Seattle leads in high-tech job growth

The Seattle area added the greatest number of high-tech jobs in 2006, outpacing Boston, San Francisco and more than 50 other U.S. cities, according to the Cybercities report from the AeA.

The report is another indication that the high-tech economy in the Seattle area continues to purr as companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon.com and dozens of startup enterprises add new workers. (The P-I’s Todd Bishop just reported on Microsoft’s record employment growth, with 38,856 workers in the Puget Sound region and 89,809 worldwide as of May 31.)

The Seattle area added 7,800 jobs in the high-tech sector in 2006, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year. The next-highest major “cybercity” was Phoenix, which experienced high-tech job growth of 4.3 percent. (Of the medium-sized “cybercities,” Riverside-San Bernadino, Calif. had the fastest job growth at 11.5 percent.)

In absolute employment numbers, Seattle’s tech work force now stands at 127,700. That makes it the ninth-biggest city for tech workers, according to the report.

And the latest surge in tech employment is bringing the region back to levels not seen since the dot com boom years. In 2001, the AeA reported that the Seattle area — including King, Pierce and Snohomish counties — employed 129,400 in the tech sector.

But between 2001 and 2004, thousands of tech workers lost jobs as the dot-com bubble deflated. Employment in the region hit a low point of 114,600 in 2003.

Here are a few of the other interesting tidbits from the report:

Seattle leads the nation in the number of software publishing jobs, with 43,600 workers.

Technology workers in the Seattle area received an average wage of $96,200 in 2006, 93 percent more than the average private sector wage. (Ranked 5th)

The Seattle area high-tech payroll was $12.3 billion in 2006. (Ranked 8th)

There were 4,900 high-tech establishments in the Seattle area in 2006. (Ranked 15th)

The Seattle area had 18,800 jobs in telecommunications services. (Ranked 9th)